BIFFO is the cleverest and mot cunning of them all.

Rujib1

Well, the unions have been taken to the cleaners by our BIFFO. They have postponed their second days shopping in Newery, they have spilt their guts as to how to reform the public service, increase productivity, admitted in public that they are overstaffed by virtue of being able to take 12 days off!!

Then when all is in the public domain, BIFFO says thanks but no thanks lads. Yer's gettin a 6% pay slash next week and get over it :D

How on earth will the unions get out of public service reform in future, having shown all their cards at this begging bowl show over the past few days.

I'd say Jack O Connor is yesterday's man and Beggs, and Doran.
I tell ya, that garlic Lenihan is on is mightystuff alltogether.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2009/1204/breaking11.htm

frman

Let's not lose the run of ourselves eh ?

ntlbell

I just caught the end of some FF back bencher on the wireless this morning saying this would be the outcome that BIFFO is too smart for them etc

At last he's shown a bit of negotiation skill.

Rujib1

Ok, let's be honest here. We gave some stick to BIFFO because we thought he was buckling under the weight of the PS unions.
But it seems he has taken them for a ride.

We should get BIFFO T Shirts printed and wear them to work next week.

BIFFO, BIFFO, BIFFO, BIFFO, BIFFO all we want for christmas is BIFFO, BIFFO.:D;):p:o:P:cool:

dfbemt

On RTE1 TV now.

Lenny has been eating too much garlic. He's bustn outta that jacket...

Euro_Kraut

The Unions have been played a like a fiddle. No one can beat FF at this kinda of crap.

Good day for Fianna Fail. Fine Gael and IBEC too.

frman

Let's not forget that they are only sweeping up their sh1te.


They caused this, please dont be fooled come GE time !

gandalf

I think this situation is the effect that having a virtual back bench revolt happening because for once the Irish people didn't take it in the ass. I think a lot of FF'ers were surprised at the extremely negative response to the "12 unpaid days of Christmas" carol being sung by the bearded choir got from their loyal supporters and realised that if they didn't do something about this whatever chance of them getting re-elected would be in the bin quicker than the carcass of the spent Turkey on the 26th of December.

Biffo was bent over and awaiting the affectionate reach around from one of his social partners before the backbenchers piped up.

FlutterinBantam

Rujib1 wrote: »

Well, the unions have been taken to the cleaners by our BIFFO. They have postponed their second days shopping in Newery, they have spilt their guts as to how to reform the public service, increase productivity, admitted in public that they are overstaffed by virtue of being able to take 12 days off!!

Then when all is in the public domain, BIFFO says thanks but no thanks lads. Yer's gettin a 6% pay slash next week and get over it :D

How on earth will the unions get out of public service reform in future, having shown all their cards at this begging bowl show over the past few days.

I'd say Jack O Connor is yesterday's man and Beggs, and Doran.
I tell ya, that garlic Lenihan is on is mightystuff alltogether.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2009/1204/breaking11.htm

I'm listening to that geezer Doran now on Drivetime 1645.

With respect Liam boy, don't treat the taxpayer like a gimp.

Transform the public service, my nut brown bollox, another flim flam with plenty of slack left over from NON COMPLIANCE over the years.


Take a hike Doran, yesterdays man.

Lenny got ya well and proper.

frman

Doran should now "keep his mouth shut"

ntlbell

the public will suffer?

public _service_ will now have to take some pain like everyone else.

Dirk Gently

glad to see you're all thanking FF for saving the country.

FF = Good
Public workers = teh evil

mission accomplished so.

marco_polo

Mmm, somehow it doesn't feel like the unwinding of a grand master plan.

Rujib1

Forget about Golden Globe awards in future. Let's have a Golden Garlic award, presented annually to the guy or gal, who can come up with a way to further squash the unelected lefties in ICTU, SIPTU, Nurses Union, TUI, ASTI, INTO, MANDATE, TEEU .......... jeez, how many more of them are there.

Gonna need a lot of garlic to keep those lot down. :D

Well, Lenny's uncle may not have made the Park, but I bet my last garlic, our Brian, is gonna get there in time :P:P

SkepticOne

No fan of FF but at the end of the day the talking had to come to an end and the necessary changes made. At least the public sector workers had some representation in the process. The same will not be true for the other areas that will be cut. And even then it is just the beginning of a long process that will take several years.

doc_17

Did someone on this forum refer to biffo as a genius? are you serious? maybe you want to re-think that? he caused the mess in the first place was he just playing the unions when he stoked up the property bubble and destrpyed the economy with vat rates etc?! Lets get real. he only pulled out when it became clear that the likes of Jim McDaid would not vote for the budget if it included unpaid leave thus collapsing the government. So the reality of all this is the same as it has always been.......its about fianna fail staying in power. end of story.

Mr.Micro

The Unions do not have much leverage at the moment and Biffo has his back to the wall. Its all just face saving theatrics from all parties, all fighting while our economy is in sh**e.

ntlbell

begg on newstlak now

Tom1974

roll on the strikes!!!!

frman

I couldn't care less about strikes, the Government have done the best thing possible.

In fact, this is the best thing they have done in the lifetime of FF.

The Unions stranglehold must be broken.

CityCentreMan

"BIFFO is the cleverest and most cunning of them all"

No I dont think so ! You are giving him more credit than he deserves.

Like a rabbit caught in a spotlight he has taken the easier option!

He had to make a choice of either facing up to the unions or dealing with the overwhelming anger with the general public.

Fortunately for us, on this occasion, it was the right decision.

ei.sdraob

Tom1974 wrote: »

roll on the strikes!!!!

yay more fun and hot air and nothing accomplished

in the end the poorest will suffer most that be people on welfare and lower paid PS workers

gally74

delighted,

for once the fianna fail back benchers stood up!!!!

i hope the unions shut up and get working!

granturismo

ntlbell wrote: »

the public will suffer?

public _service_ will now have to take some pain like everyone else.

66% of the private service have not taken any pain.

gally74

not true,

everyone has taken pain

westtip

Don't think there is anything to rejoice over I think FF have finally realised in their final days of office the only hope they have to try and get any credibility back is to stand up and GOVERN.

Lenihan should now go for the jugular in the budget, Cut once and cut deep otherwise this will just run and run till next years budget.

Cut their balls off Brian the time has come - no Minister of Finance in the past has had the opportunity to cut the unions down to size now is the time mate history beckons you.

ei.sdraob

granturismo wrote: »

66% of the private service have not taken any pain.

at 60K a year + guaranteed job & pension & 9 month work year like the teachers

ill take the public sector brand of pain any time

jenzz

Personally wouldnt give that man credit for anything. & back to square 1 again.
Is no one else worried about what next.

Last thing we need now is the country grinding to a halt at 9am monday morning All out strike?? Is that really what we need now ??

He is certainly playing a game now & once again were all tied up in knots while nama & banks drama is all playing away in the background with no one even noticing. Lord only knows what really is going on in the back ground..

frman

westtip wrote: »

Don't think there is anything to rejoice over I think FF have finally realised in their final days of office the only hope they have to try and get any credibility back is to stand up and GOVERN.

Lenihan should now go for the jugular in the budget, Cut once and cut deep otherwise this will just run and run till next years budget.

Cut their balls off Brian the time has come - no Minister of Finance in the past has had the opportunity to cut the unions down to size now is the time mate history beckons you.

Yeah he can really make a name for himself here.

Hope he does the right thing and gets this country back on its feet.

frman

jenzz wrote: »

Last thing we need now is the country grinding to a halt at 9am monday morning All out strike?? Is that really what we need now ??

What we need is to reduce the deficit.

If strikes happen, so be it.


And the Country wont grind to a halt either.

maxximus

frman wrote: »

What we need is to reduce the deficit.

If strikes happen, so be it.


And the Country wont grind to a halt either.

we will see what will happen when schools , hospitals etc will close down for 3 - 5 days then so !

ntlbell

granturismo wrote: »

66% of the private service have not taken any pain.

url?

frman

maxximus wrote: »

we will see what will happen when schools , hospitals etc will close down for 3 - 5 days then so !

It's for the greater good.

LostinBlanch

frman wrote: »

If strikes happen, so be it.


And the Country wont grind to a halt either.

Nah, they'll all be in Newry!

Dancing_Priest

granturismo wrote: »

66% of the private service have not taken any pain.

Since you have the figures to hand, could you tell us what percentage of the public sector lost their jobs due to redundancies? I don't have the figures to hand, perhaps you could enlighten me, mate.

dfbemt

I think well done those that have stood up, not quite sure Mr Cowen was the mastermind though.

As a public sector worker I abhorr the grip the unions have. They have held back progress for many years for those that did not give a damn. I welcome change and progress and modernisation but I need a weekly wage, I need to do my job.

The unions have their place, the problem is that they overstepped the mark and were lead to believe that they were more important, thanks to Bertie.

The future is a scary one indeed. Next Weds will be a historic day in the history of this country.

ROS123

Wow the FF fanboys have some thing to yahoooo about at last, they have been keeping their heads down for a long time now and rightly so, they fooked us up good in the first place. Cowen had no choice, McDaid, McGrath and a few more had said they wouldn't vote for the 12 days in the budget. They too only doing it to save their ars....

It wasn't brilliant strategy by Cowen just saving face. That said it was impracticable, lots of the other stuff was good, transformation etc. but built on a fioundation of sand (12 days).

What next ????????????

gally74

there isnt the support with the PS for strikes!

ardmacha

Since you have the figures to hand, could you tell us what percentage of the public sector lost their jobs due to redundancies?

This forum is amazing, people are simultaneously criticising proposals for short time for the public service because they are all needed while at the same time wondering why there are no redundancies.

frman

ROS123 wrote: »

Wow the FF fanboys have some thing to yahoooo about at last, they have been keeping their heads down for a long time now and rightly so, they fooked us up good in the first place.

I am not a FFer and will never vote that way after the mess that they have landed us in..

I am just delighted that the correct decision has been made for the good of the Country for once.

westtip

Will today mark a day in Irish Social Economic and Political History?

Will We look back on December 4th 2009 as The end of the Era of the Beards.

seamus

maxximus wrote: »

we will see what will happen when schools , hospitals etc will close down for 3 - 5 days then so !

Hospitals will never close down, but our health service is in such a **** state at present that a strike can't really make it all that worse. Parents are well used to making arrangements for their kids during summer holidays and so forth and employers will be generally sympathetic and accomodating. The problem here is that the public knows that there simply is no money and the public sector workers are on the ropes.

I'm pretty sure most people are prepared to settle in for the long haul if it means we can reduce the cost of running the country and begin to correct the accounts.

There's only so long the public sector can go on strike before their war fund runs out and their own ranks turn against them - especially when less than half of the union members voted for the first strike.

ei.sdraob

maxximus wrote: »

we will see what will happen when schools , hospitals etc will close down for 3 - 5 days then so !

oh here come the "terrorist" like threats :rolleyes:

since the Gardai be striking too does that mean i can break into teachers houses and get away scot free? strikes hurt everyone remember


if anything the strike exposed how grotesquely unfair the strike were on some of the PS members who are now realizing they are taken by a ride by their own unions

Dancing_Priest

frman wrote: »

It's for the greater good.

Greater good? Where were all the strikes when classroom sizes went through the roof? Where were they when the government refused to provide infrastructure for a modern education system?

Greater good? Where were the public service strikes then?

ei.sdraob

Dancing_Priest wrote: »

Greater good? Where were all the strikes when classroom sizes went through the roof? Where were they when the government refused to provide infrastructure for a modern education system?

Greater good? Where were the public service strikes then?

the choice was between more pay or better infrastructure

guess which one the unions chose?

Dancing_Priest

maxximus wrote: »

we will see what will happen when schools , hospitals etc will close down for 3 - 5 days then so !

I for one, cannot wait, we were very busy the last time around. I spoke to 3 teachers in the showroom about buying a car in 2010.
Right or wrong, ye worn't on the picket lines.

ardmacha

guess which one the unions chose?

Guess which one the government, elected by the people, chose. The government never proposed spending a decent amount on education by European standards and the teachers only got pay increases in line with other workers in the economy.

Flan45

This forum is amazing, people are simultaneously criticising proposals for short time for the public service because they are all needed while at the same time wondering why there are no redundancies.

Two different issues:

Firstly there are shortages of people in certain areas of the PS, there was no basis for agreeing short time in those areas, in other areas members of the PS could have taken 18 or 20 days unpaid leave and it wouldn't have made any difference because it's over staffed.

The latter is the area where we wonder why there are no redundancies.

ntlbell

[quote=ardmacha;63340371teachers only got pay increases in line with other workers in the economy.[/quote]

so decreases should be the same?

so around 10%?

grand.

ei.sdraob

ardmacha wrote: »

Guess which one the government, elected by the people, chose. The government never proposed spending a decent amount on education by European standards and the teachers only got pay increases in line with other workers in the economy.

and now that other workers in economy are set back a decade

will yee follow?

Angrybastard

B@llox. Biffo ran scared of his back-benchers. I'm a PS worker and have been open to change, but they can go f*ck themselves now.